Ani was a high-ranking scribe and treasury official who lived in Thebes during the 19th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, likely under the reign of Seti I or Ramesses II (c. 1290–1250 B.C.). Though his titles vary, he is often called the “Scribe of the Divine Offerings,” indicating a prestigious role in the temple economy. He...
“the good and beautiful swallow who remains in eternity,” In the bright blue skies of Ancient Egypt, few creatures fluttered with more quiet mystique than the humble swallow. Known to the Egyptians as menet or occasionally wer, this elegant little bird, most likely the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica), with its deeply forked tail and acrobatic...
Thutmose’s workshop was discovered in early December 1912 by a German archaeological expedition led by Ludwig Borchardt. The workshop was located in what is now known as Amarna, previously called Akhetaten, the then new capital established by Akhenaten. The workshop was identified as belonging to Thutmose due to an ivory horse blinker found in a...
In 332 B.C., the ever-ambitious Alexander the Great, fresh from his triumphs in the Levant, swept into Egypt like a storm with sunshine at its centre. Egypt, weary under Persian rule, did not resist him. Quite the opposite; he was welcomed as a liberator. To the Egyptians, Alexander was not merely a foreign conqueror, but...
This vividly painted fragment comes from a Book of the Dead scroll dating from 19th Dynasty. The scene depicts a male scribe, identified by his title “Scribe of the House of the King”, offering incense and homage to the enthroned god Osiris, who is flanked by Isis. Behind the scribe stands a female figure bearing...
Min of Koptos, one of the most ancient and enigmatic deities of the Ancient Egyptian pantheon, was revered as a god of fertility, virility, and the regenerative forces of nature. Min symbolised masculine creative power at its most primal and enduring. His cult flourished especially in Koptos and Akhmim, where he was venerated as the...
In Ancient Egyptian belief, the afterlife, known as Aaru, or the Field of Reeds, was not some ethereal realm of clouds and choirs, but rather a perfected reflection of life along the Nile. To the Egyptians, paradise was not an abstract heaven above but an idealised Egypt itself: abundant, eternal, and unmarred by suffering or...
This richly detailed wall scene, originally painted in the tomb of Seti I (KV17), presents two distinct groups of foreigners. The four men on the left, dark-skinned and clad in white garments with red sashes, are Nubians. Each of their cartouches contains the word nḥsj, meaning “Nubian,” occasionally accompanied by ḥqꜣ nḥsj, meaning “Chief of...
Amenhotep III and his Great Royal Wife, Tiye‘s firstborn son, was a prince named Thutmose. As the eldest royal son, he was heir to the throne, and so Thutmose bore prestigious titles such as High Priest of Ptah, indicating his early grooming for both religious and royal responsibilities. A carved statuette depicting him as a...
Wrestling in Ancient Egypt was a highly respected and ancient discipline, among the earliest documented sports in recorded history. It was not a brutal or theatrical display, like the choreographed sword duels shown in The Mummy Returns, but rather a structured and skilful activity that combined physical prowess with cultural and symbolic significance. The earliest...
To the Ancient Egyptian imagination, the blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea) was far more than a waterborne bloom. Each evening, its petals folded and sank beneath the surface, only to rise and open anew with the sunrise. This daily rhythm made the flower an emblem of cosmic rebirth, mirroring the sun-god’s own journey through the night...
The wooden figure depicts a naked woman holding what is identified as a cat to her chest, though the animal’s form is somewhat indistinct. Though undated in the museum’s entry, the figure was acquired by the early 19th-century Scottish traveller and collector Robert Hay of Linplum, who amassed a substantial number of antiquities during his...
Strung some four-and-forty centimetres in length and weighing scarcely fifty grams, this Middle Kingdom girdle (c. 2055–1650 B.C.), said to be from Thebes, is a miniature treasury of electrum, silver, and semi-precious stone. Six hollow electrum cowries, each painstakingly punched in two halves, soldered, and pierced for threading. With oblate lapis-lazuli and green-feldspar beads, amethyst...
